[Leica] Do-it-yourself fixer

["Doug Richardson" <doug@meditor.demon.co.uk>]

George Huczek <ghuczek@sk.sympatico.ca> wrote:

>If it is not essential to use a rapid fix, get some bulk sodium
thiosulphate crystals and I can send you a few different fixer
formulas to
mix it.  It is cheaper than buying prepared fixer, as long as you
don't
have to spend too much in shipping costs, as you should get at least
2.5 kg
of it to keep you going for a while.

Back around 1960 my father discovered that sodium thiosulphate (hypo)
crystals were available very cheaply if bought in 14lb bags. Although
he bought Microdol developer for his films, he'd always brewed his own
paper developer, so now be made his own fixer.

Those crystals were fairly large, and took two forevers to dissolve,
so he'd often have several bottles of fixer parked in a row, all at
different stages of "dissolvement" having been made several years
apart. I wonder if he ever did finish that 14lb bag...


Regards,

Doug Richardson